Ramsey v. State

378 S.W.3d 797, 2010 Ark. App. 836, 2010 Ark. App. LEXIS 892
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arkansas
DecidedDecember 15, 2010
DocketNo. CA CR 09-1371
StatusPublished

This text of 378 S.W.3d 797 (Ramsey v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ramsey v. State, 378 S.W.3d 797, 2010 Ark. App. 836, 2010 Ark. App. LEXIS 892 (Ark. Ct. App. 2010).

Opinion

LARRY D. VAUGHT, Chief Judge.

| Appellant Jennifer Ramsey was convicted as an accomplice to aggravated robbery and theft of property. On appeal she argues that the trial court erred in its denial of her directed-verdict motion and her motion for new trial. She also challenges the denial of a motion in limine. We find no error and affirm her convictions.

Patrick Chinemerem Mbawuike met Ramsey while conducting business at an insurance company. During the course of their initial conversation, she mentioned that she was interested in selling her 2001 Toyota Camry, but did not have clear title to the car as she still owed $3300. Mba-wuike expressed interest in purchasing the vehicle and asked that she contact him once she secured clear title to the vehicle. A few weeks later Ramsey made contact with Mbawuike, and the two agreed to met at a Walgreens in southwest Little Rock at approximately 9:00 p.m. |2Although the two had not yet come to terms on the selling price, the parties agreed that Mbawuike would bring a large sum of cash in the event he decided to accept Ramsey’s offer to sell the vehicle.

Mbawuike brought $2000 to purchase Ramsey’s car. However, he had concerns about the appearance of the vehicle and wanted to take it for a test drive before he purchased it. Before taking the test drive, Mbawuike secreted the cash in his own vehicle. According to his testimony, shortly after beginning the “test drive” Ramsey asked Mbawuike to buy her a cocktail and directed him to a parking lot located down the street from Walgreens. She told Mba-wuike that her uncle owned a liquor store at the location. Once they arrived, Mba-wuike parked the vehicle, and Ramsey immediately exited the car.

Rodney Adkins (Ramsey’s codefen-dant) 1 immediately jumped in the front seat of the vehicle; he was brandishing a knife, which he held to Mbawuike’s neck. Adkins then ordered Mbawuike to tender his wallet. While Adkins was threatening Mbawuike, Ramsey voluntarily re-entered the vehicle and advised Mbawuike to follow Adkins’s orders. Once Ramsey was back in the car, Adkins ordered Mbawuike to drive the vehicle. After driving around for about ten minutes, Mbawuike refused to drive any farther. Adkins eventually exited the vehicle and fled the scene on foot. Ramsey remained in the car and began pleading with Mbawuike not to call the police. Mbawuike drove Ramsey’s vehicle back to Walgreens, returned to his own vehicle, cancelled his credit cards, and called the police. As Ramsey drove away, Mbawuike was able to write down her license-plate number and give it to the police.

| sMbawuike told police officers that he was robbed at knife point by a white male in his early- to mid-thirties. Mbawuike described the suspect as approximately two-hundred pounds and five-feet-ten-inches tall. After being shown a photo line-up, Mbawuike identified both Ramsey and Adkins as the people he encountered that evening. Ramsey was convicted and sentenced to two consecutive ten-year sentences. It is from these convictions that she appeals.

Ramsey first contends that because there was inadequate evidence to support her convictions, the trial court erred in its denial of her directed-verdict motions. She asserts that the evidence deduced at trial establishes that she was an innocent bystander, not an accomplice to robbery and theft. A motion for directed verdict is a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence. Tester v. State, 342 Ark. 549, 30 S.W.3d 99 (2000). The test for determining the sufficiency of the evidence is whether the verdict is supported by substantial evidence, direct or circumstantial. Id. at 552-53, 30 S.W.3d at 101-02. Substantial evidence is evidence that is of sufficient certainty and precision to compel a conclusion. Id., 30 S.W.3d at 101-02. Circumstantial evidence is substantial when it excludes every reasonable hypothesis consistent with innocence, and whether it does is a question for the jury. Gregory v. State, 341 Ark. 243, 15 S.W.3d 690 (2000). In a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence, the appellate court reviews the evidence in the light most favorable to the State. Id. at 247, 15 S.W.3d at 693. Further, only evidence supporting the verdict will be considered. Steggall v. State, 340 Ark. 184, 8 S.W.3d 538 (2000).

Guilt can be established without eyewitness testimony and evidence of guilt is not less because it is circumstantial. Gregory, 341 Ark. at 247, 15 S.W.3d at 693. The longstanding rule in the use of circumstantial evidence is that, to be substantial, the evidence must exclude every |4other reasonable hypothesis than that of the guilt of the accused. Id. at 247-48, 15 S.W.3d at 694. The question of whether the circumstantial evidence excludes every hypothesis consistent with innocence is for the jury to decide. Id. at 248, 15 S.W.3d at 694. Upon review, this court must determine whether the jury resorted to speculation and conjecture in reaching its verdict. Id., 15 S.W.3d at 694. Overwhelming evidence of guilt is not required in cases based on circumstantial evidence; the test is one of substantiality. Id., 15 S.W.3d at 694.

Specific to this case, a person commits robbery if, with the purpose of committing a felony or misdemeanor theft or resisting apprehension immediately after committing a felony or misdemeanor theft, the person employs or threatens to immediately employ physical force upon another person. Ark.Code Ann. § 5-12-102(a) (Repl. 2006). A person commits aggravated robbery if he commits robbery as defined in section 5-12-102(a) and is armed with a deadly weapon, represents by word or conduct that he or she is armed with a deadly weapon, or inflicts or attempts to inflict death or serious physical injury upon another person. Ark.Code Ann. § 5-12-103 (Repl.2006).

In cases like Ramsey’s, where the theory of accomplice liability is implicated, we affirm a sufficiency-of-the-evidence challenge if substantial evidence exists that the defendant acted as an accomplice in the commission of the alleged offense. Purifoy v. State, 307 Ark. 482, 822 S.W.2d 374 (1991). A person is criminally liable for the conduct of another person when she is the accomplice of another person in the commission of an offense. Ark.Code Ann. § 5-2-402 (Repl.2006). Under Ark. Code Ann. § 5-2-403 (Repl.2006), an accomplice is defined as follows:

(a) A person is an accomplice of another person in the commission of an offense lfiif, with the purpose of promoting or facilitating the commission of an offense, he:
(1) Solicits, advises, encourages, or coerces the other person to commit it; or
(2) Aids, agrees to aid, or attempts to aid the other person in planning or committing it; or
(3) having a legal duty to prevent the commission of the offense, fails to make proper effort to do so.
(b) When causing a particular result is an element of an offense, a person is an accomplice in the commission of that offense if, acting with respect to that result with the kind of culpability sufficient for the commission of the offense he:

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Related

Tester v. State
30 S.W.3d 99 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 2000)
Purifoy v. State
822 S.W.2d 374 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1991)
Steggall v. State
8 S.W.3d 538 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 2000)
Gregory v. State
15 S.W.3d 690 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 2000)
Spencer v. State
72 S.W.3d 461 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 2002)
Barnes v. State
55 S.W.3d 271 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 2001)
Cook v. State
86 S.W.3d 916 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 2002)

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Bluebook (online)
378 S.W.3d 797, 2010 Ark. App. 836, 2010 Ark. App. LEXIS 892, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ramsey-v-state-arkctapp-2010.